


Hearts in Your Eyes

by Interruptedfern



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:13:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6007441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interruptedfern/pseuds/Interruptedfern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas finds a way to communicate that doesn't actually involve speaking, Dean follows suit. A gratuitous amount of sugar is spread around the bunker. Sam observes, armed with confetti.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hearts in Your Eyes

 

“Dean.”

 

“What.”

 

“ _ Dean. _ ”

 

“What, Cas?”

 

Dean looked where Cas was poking him in the arm. A small chalky heart was sitting on the table next to his elbow. In fact, now that he bothered to look around, there were tiny pastel hearts scattered all across the table, a couple on the floor, and a small pile on one of the far bookcases. 

 

“Cas, you can’t just leave candy all over the place. We're gonna get ants. Jeez you’re becoming a regular Gabriel.” 

 

Cas shook his head. “A fondness for sweets doesn’t make me an archangel. I’d actually need grace, for one thing,” he said sardonically.

 

He ambled away leaving Dean feeling guilty again. 

 

Cas had seen better days. 

 

Dean had a propensity for blurting out whatever was on his mind, and Cas was too touchy to not get offended. They were trying to pretend everything was normal and it wasn't really working. Something always stuck between them, wedged in the front of Dean's chest, insistent and ignored. He felt like there was something he was supposed to do, in the silence after Cas talked, when they sat quietly together. And time passed faster than ever these days. Another damn Valentine’s Day spent inside. He’d briefly mulled over going out, ultimately deciding it wasn’t even worth the cost of gas to drive there.

 

The idea of someone holding him, just for the sake of it, was alien. Years ago, he would let someone wrap their arms around him. Even if only for a night, the comfort of soft embraces fueled him on the road. But he’s older now, false attachments fall away like a lizard’s shed skin. 

 

The heart by his elbow read  **Hey You** . 

 

The next time Cas came into the room, Dean was ready. Cas clearly wasn’t expecting the green heart that hit him in the neck. He jumped and the chalky candy fell down the opening of his shirt. He hopped on the spot, trying to get the candy out, while Dean laughed. With a soft  _ clink _ and a small ring of candy dust, the heart hit the floor. Cas leaned to pick it up, and glancing down, raised an eyebrow. By the time he looked up, Dean was gone. 

 

Dean had gone with the most innocuous one he could find.  **No Way** . He hoped Cas didn’t see it as a shut down. 

 

When he was alone he wanted Cas there, but when Cas was in the room, they were either awkwardly quiet or fighting. And for once, he and Cas were communicating again. And maybe it was weird, the candy dust was bothering Dean’s neat sensibilities, and Sam was judging them, but it was something. 

 

The next morning there was a  **Get Real** at the bottom of his coffee mug. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The hearts stopped annoying Dean. He left his seat in the library to swipe a couple off a shelf. When he came back to  **You Rock** sitting primly on top of the book he’d been reading, warm, fluid happiness filled him. He started planning out his next moves, although a life of hunting hadn’t prepared him for hidden message candy warfare. 

 

Cas’s face was priceless when he found  **Too Cool** in the freezer next to the frozen burritos. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Four days had passed. He and Cas had traded nearly every message they could find. From  **Yee Ha** to  **Be Mine** , under pillows and in slippers. 

He’d seen the chipped flower pot next to Cas’s bed full of  **Got Cha** ’s and  **One & Only** ’s. Were they serious? Were they joking? At this point Dean didn't even care. He and Cas were having fun and they had so little in common these days. It felt good just to be close, working for the same cause, which didn't happen to include the end of the world this time.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dean woke up on the 14th of February just in time for Sam to throw a handful of pink confetti in his face. He sat there, in shock for a slight second and then launched himself out of bed and raced after Sam’s retreating laughter when-

 

_ Crunch _

 

A small pile of candy dust under his feet.  _ Shit. _

 

All Dean’s momentum drained. He’d never know what message Cas had left for him this time, and since they hadn’t ever verbally addressed their little note system, he didn’t feel like he could just  _ ask _ .

 

With a disgruntled tempo, he set off for the kitchen.

 

He grabbed a mug of coffee, (only sloshing it a little) and took it into the library. Even though the little hearts had grown on him, Dean was still fighting the urge to corral them into a bin. A fine layer of sugary dust coated most of the library. Cas was occupying one of the tables, a mixture of candy hearts and centuries old tomes spread across the surface. Dean cleared a spot and slumped down next to Cas, who also beared the mark of Sam’s early morning terrorizing. He nodded blearily at Dean, a small puff of confetti falling out of his hair and down the front of his tan robe. Dean had found the robe in a vintage costume shop. It was in fairly good condition so he had no reason to pass it up other than the who-else-wore-this-and-when-it-was-last-washed factor. 

 

His favorite picture Sam had taken on Christmanakah (Cas had wanted to acknowledge the Maccabees and their valiant rebellion) was Cas’s face as he saw the robe. He’d spent the last month freezing, and letting everyone know it. He stood up, shaking out the long, tan robe. It had been delicately painted, probably by the stage crew of an old play, to look like a trench coat. It was perfect, from the buttons to the collar to the buckle attached to the sash. Dean had to buy a photo album shortly after the holidays passed. They’d never had enough picture to fill an album, but with their own little family, Charlie and Dorothy stopping in from Oz, Kevin and his mom showing up unexpectedly, and even Hannah, their lives weren’t, well,  _ normal,  _ but they were happy. 

 

Dean nodded back, slipped out a hearty “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cas.” and then added “What’s got you all moody?” after Cas made a strange face.

 

“Valentine’s day holds significance for me.” Cas quirked a small smile.

 

“Well, yeah, it does for most people. Whether they’re crying or laughing, they’re feeling  _ something _ .”

 

A long silence followed, only broken by the occasional page turn. “So what is it?” 

 

“Hmmm…?”

 

“What, uh, what makes today special?”

 

Cas huffed a small laugh. “Remember the apocalypse?”

 

“Of course I remember the freaking apocalypse,” Dean said.

 

“The Valentine’s Day before the end, we were hunting down the horsemen.”

 

“Right. Nude cupid, cannibal couple, famine doing a number on Sam, hard to forget that one.”

 

“He did a number on me too.”

 

“What? The hamburgers?” Dean snorted derisively. 

 

“No, Dean,” said Cas, “That was Jimmy’s weakness. We were both suffering but I was still an 

angel then, and couldn’t bear to admit I had another weakness. Not to you, not to Sam, not to myself.”

 

“Yeah..?”

 

Cas was silent. “I’m not sure now is the best time for this.”

 

“Caaaaaasss,” Dean whined

 

“Fine,” Cas looked away, 

 

“Jimmy’s body was starving for food I didn’t eat and all I wanted was you.” Cas studied the wall, wouldn’t look at him. 

 

Dean raised his eyebrows, though his feet shifted uneasily, “Damn Cas, guess you didn’t want to fuck me that bad if you held off.”

 

Cas darted a glance at Dean’s face. “That wasn’t what I wanted. I fought not to take your hand, to hold you safe as you fell asleep, every time I spoke I  _ needed _ to tell you how much you 

mattered.”

 

Dean studied Cas’s face, waiting for him to break and admit it was a joke. His face portrayed nothing, but Cas’s hands were clenched in his bathrobe, trembling. Though he hadn’t seen Cas scared in a long time, fear on a creature built to be fearless isn’t easily forgotten. Tentatively, he disentangled Cas’s hands and held them gently. 

 

“Hey, it’s okay. Look at me, man.” He placed a hand on Cas’s cheek and tilted his face until their eyes met. “It’s okay.” 

 

Cas gave him a wavery smile. 

 

And since Cas’s distress no longer needed to be Dean’s priority, everything he’d said came crashing into Dean’s head. He swallowed a lump of emotion and said quietly “...you’ve loved me since 2010?”

 

“Earlier. I was falling the moment I met you.”

 

Dean had his arms around Cas before he was done speaking. 

 

They'd hugged before. It was the most natural thing to pull Cas against him. But this time he didn't have to let go. 

 

Even so, he pulled back slightly, still holding Cas’s hand gently, then leaning back in to touch foreheads. 

 

“...Cas?”

 

“Yes, Dean?”

 

“I…”

 

Cas curled his hand around Dean’s cheek.

 

“I can't. I'm sorry,” said Dean.

 

Cas gazed up into Dean's eyes, searching for the soul he could no longer see. “You've never had to say it. You've been praying to me for years, whether you intended to or not, I know, Dean.” 

 

Dean pulled him up to his feet, till they were standing, facing each other.

 

With his hand in his pocket, Dean took a deep breath and bounced an orange heart into Cas’s outstretched hand. 

 

He flipped it over so the text side faced up and quickly quirked his head as he studied Dean’s face.  **Kiss Me**

 

Cas turned away and Dean’s insides wilted. It was just another time Dean has misinterpreted the situation and  _ god he was such an idiot he’d fucked up again and what if he’s losing Cas and this time it’s completely his fault.  _ The silence was pulling him apart as Cas ran his hands along the tabletop, stopped as he found what he was looking for, and walked back over. A pink heart was held gently between his parted smile.  **Yes** . 

Dean leaned in, nervous pounding filling his ears again. And Cas leaned away.  _ What the hell.  _ Dean closed his eyes. His anxiety didn’t know what to be anymore and had settled cleanly between terror and excitement. He heard a soft  _ pphhh _ and the sound of something skittering across the floor.

 

“Sorry,” Cas whispered “I don’t think you wanted that in your mouth, they’re actually quite disgusting.” And then there was a hand on his shoulder and another on the back of his neck and Cas was kissing him and he found that he didn’t really care anymore. It didn’t last particularly long, and when they pulled apart, Dean leaned his head against Cas’s shoulder. 

 

“You really had me scared, for a minute there I thought you were just gonna walk away.”

 

Cas stared at him. “I will never choose to leave again. You should have realized that by now. You’re stuck with me for as long as you’ll have me.”

 

Dean grinned “Awesome.” Cas jerked his head up, headbutting Dean in the process, and stepping back, began to rummage through his pockets.

 

"What the hell, man?" Dean said annoyed, rubbing his chin. But the irritation died away when he saw that Cas's face had broken into a grin and he stuck his hand out to Dean expectantly. Dean held his own underneath and Cas dropped a single white candy. Dean began to grin too as he held it up. The heart said  **Awesome** .

 

"Look at you, all prepared." Dean laughed and leaned down to kiss him again.

 

When they pulled apart, Dean leaned in close and whispered “I gotta ask, where the fuck did you get all this candy?”

 

Cas chuckled and opened his mouth to answer when Sam sauntered into the room, grinning, eyes flicking between the two of them, and Dean couldn't believe he didn’t have to make excuses to himself for the adoration in Cas’s eyes. 

 

Sam grabbed a yellow heart and chucked it at Dean. It bounced off his forehead and fell into his lap. The pink stamping shouted  **Got Luv?**

**Author's Note:**

> Wanna say hey? Our Tumblr is interruptedfern.tumblr.com :)


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